Somerset
Somerset is a ONtv series written by Steven Ungrey. This fan fiction is based on the real life 1970-1976 serial of the same name, created by Robert Cenedella. It was a spinoff of the now-defunct soap opera, Another World. The real life Somerset was a spinoff where three members of AW's cast, Sam Lucas (Jordan Charney); his wife, Lahoma (Ann Wedgeworth); and recently widowed Missy Palmer Matthews (Carol Roux) moved to a town called Somerset, ostensibly located 50 miles north of Bay City (AW's setting). Sam and Lahoma became close friends with Ellen Grant (Georgeanne Johnson) and her husband, attorney Ben Grant (Edward Kemmer). The other main family in town was the Delaneys who ran the town's mainstay employer, Delaney Brands, a food corporation, similar to Kraft Foods. The Delaneys were phased out in 1971, due to lackluster story interest. One of the Delaney brothers, Robert (Nicholas Coster) eventually went to Somerset's parent show, Another World. When Henry Slesar took over the show, (he was writing for the soap The Edge of Night at the same time) he brought some of the elements from that show and mixed it in with Somerset. The show kind of took off from there, but with all sorts of problems, too many themes, no core family, and other various woes, the show ended in 1976. Flash forward to 2008, Steve Ungrey brought Somerset back, on ONtv, as the children of two of Somerset's most well-known families took the spotlight. Sam and Lahoma's daughter, Susannah Lucas and Patrick Kurtz (the son of Dr. Stan Kurtz and his wife, Dr. Terri Martin Kurtz) were now front and center in the stories. (Actors Stacy Edwards and Matt Crane play the grown up Susie and Patrick, respectively) And Somerset itself had grown exponentially in the interim. It was considered a small town in the original series, but was now the size of a medium sized city. (In the fan fiction's title sequence, the real life city of Omaha, Nebraska stands in for the now larger Somerset, which was revealed to be located in Illinois and still 50 miles north of Bay City, which was also revealed to be in Illinois.) In the opening episodes, Susannah moved to Somerset, a city she was born in, but had barely remembered, to begin her own life, and to also help heal the scars her family had of the town (their personal trials; the memories of the mob and criminal dealings that had occurred). She found a home in an area called Grant's Preserve, which was the site of the now demolished Delaney Brands, and makes friends with her neighbors, restauranteurs Giovanni and Rose Petterino (Frank Runyeon; Susan Pratt) and gains a job with family friend, Jack Martin (Lane Davies). She is also reunited with her old friend, Patrick Kurtz, now a doctor at Somerset's hospital. At first, Somerset was slated to be a stand alone series, but Steve and Albie Gray, the creator and head writer of Harpers Falls, decided to plan some crossover episodes, solidifying the tie-ins with the reasoning that Susannah and Anyssa Harper Forson, of Harpers Falls, were best friends. The relationship has since expanded to have been revealed that Anyssa had been raised by Sam and Lahoma after the deaths of her parents, until she went to boarding school when she was in junior high and High school. Since then, several characters from HF have made crossovers to Somerset over the course of time, and those who do so most frequently are Anyssa, Sheila Harper Watkins; Dylan Harper and Velda Smithfield. Sheila and Dylan are close friends with Susie; and Velda is in a romantic relationship with Alexander Fenwick (Jed Stone), the butler of businessman George Cleypool (John Beck). In a twist, Fenwick was the former butler of the late Peter Delaney (Len Gochman), the brother of Robert Delaney. In a lot of ways, Somerset is tied in with Harpers Falls; as several characters from the original series have made their marks on HF; such as Kate Thornton (Tina Sloan); Heather Lawrence Kane (Audrey Landers); Robert's former wife, India Delaney Hillman (Marie Wallace; later played by Jane Elliot), who became kind of a fun-loving aunt to the Harpers; and Vickie Paisley (Veleka Gray). Another character tied into the Somerset family, a girl named Julia Cannell (April Katherine Littlejohn) was created for Harpers Falls as the daughter of Vicky and her late husband, Julian Cannell (the late Joel Crothers), but was never mentioned on the real life Somerset. Happily, HF; NB has decided to continue the crossover path with Somerset that the original HF had started; already having Susie, her boyfriend, Patrick and her now adopted daughter, Ellen Lucas, who is related to the Harper family, make frequent appearances on the show. Category:Shows that have crossed over with Harpers Falls. Category:Series